|
|||||||||||||
Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
Advertising glitch derails hospital public hearing
The Sept. 25 Planning Commission Public Hearing on HCA's application to build a 164-bed hospital in Broadlands has been canceled and rescheduled for Oct. 15 at 6 p.m.
The names of all who signed up to speak at the Sept. 25 public hearing will be transferred, in the same order, to the Oct. 15 list. Speakers can sign up at the hearing, or sign up ahead by calling the Planning Department at 703-777-0246. Written comments can be sent to Planning Commission, 1 Harrison St. S.E., Leesburg VA 20177, or by e-mail to loudounpc@loudoun.gov.
The hearing will be held at Eagle Ridge Middle School on Waxpool Road in Ashburn. Newspaper notices of the Sept. 25 hearing gave the correct location, but the yellow placards posted in Broadlands near the 57-acre site directed the public to the County Government Center at 1 Harrison St. in Leesburg.
"You have to post correctly," said Assistant County Administrator Charles Yudd. "It appears the public notice signs have incorrectly identified where the public hearing will occur."
Attorney Rhonda Paice brought the error to the attention of County Administrator Kirby Bowers. Her clients, residents of Broadlands who do not want a hospital in their neighborhood, will be very happy with the delay, Paice said.
"My clients feel this application has been pushed way too quickly through the process," Paice said.
Not all residents oppose the project. At a Sept. 8 meeting, the Broadlands Homeowners Association's four resident members voted to endorse the hospital. The five representatives of Van Metre, developer of Broadlands, abstained from the vote.
The county's planning staff recommended approval of the application. A week ago, Inova Loudoun Hospital's chief executive officer said if HCA shifts the project to its U.S. 50 site, Inova will not oppose it. Inova Loudoun Hospital has fought the Broadlands hospital, less than 5 miles from the Lansdowne not-for-profit hospital, since it was first proposed.
Further delays in a four-year effort to build the hospital in Ashburn "won't benefit Loudoun residents," said HCA's Mark Foust. HCA will follow the process and timetable set by the county, Foust said.
HCA, the largest for-profit hospital corporation in the country and in Virginia, got the state's approval for a Broadlands hospital in early 2005. In August of that year, the Board of Supervisors rejected the project as incompatible with a residential neighborhood.
HCA filed a lawsuit challenging that denial. In March 2008, just days before the trial was set to start in Circuit Court, a new Board of Supervisors agreed to look at the hospital application again, in return for HCA's dropping the lawsuit.
Contact the reporter at ssollinger@timespapers.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.